Ed.D in School Improvement

Applications for the Summer 2020 Cohort will open on October 1, 2019 with updated
admission criteria and application materials.

Why Choose the Doctor of Education in School Improvement Program?

The Doctor of Education in School Improvement Program offers a unique opportunity
for educators looking for an interdisciplinary, inquiry-based doctoral program that
prepares graduates to become change agents in the PK - 12 schools they serve. Coursework
is offered 100% online.

The Doctor of Education in School Improvement Program offers a unique opportunity
for educators looking for an interdisciplinary, inquiry-based doctoral program that
prepares graduates to become change agents in the PK - 12 schools they serve. Coursework
is offered 100% online.

There are several unique features of the Doctor of Education in School Improvement.
These include the following:

All coursework is delivered through an asynchronous online environment, using a wide
variety of instructional technologies.

Students are required to come to the Carrollton, GA campus for an intensive two day
orientation during the first summer, and participate in an intensive Virtual Dissertation
Prep Seminar.

The program may be completed in three years; however, many students take four years
or more to complete.

Faculty are nationally recognized, committed to school improvement, and understand
the needs of adult learners.

Congratulations to the 2019 School Improvement Dissertation of the Year Award recipient,
Dr. Rebecca Owen!

Her dissertation, "Exploring the Relationship Between Rural Young Adolescents' Expectancy-Values
in Reading and their Reading Performance" investigated a critical issue and has valuable
practical applications in the field of school improvement. With reading education
being a vital part of the American school system, school improvment inevitably includes
providing educators with better training on reading education in K-12 school systems,
particularly in rural schools that need more support.

Dr. Owen's dissertation sheds a different light on reading education, calling attention
to a motivational approach to reading, investigating rural adolescents reading performance
and their expectancy and value beliefs in the important subject, and studying the
relationship between their motivational beliefs and their reading performance.